A number of Maryland lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates have rallied in support of a local gay man allegedly attacked on Christmas Day in Baltimore.

The Washington Blade reports that about 40 people gathered at the base of the Washington Monument in honor of Kenni Shaw, a 30-year-old East Baltimore man who claims to have bene beaten by at least five men while leaving a liquor store.

"I was pinned down by punches," Shaw, a cosmetologist, told the Baltimore Sun about the incident. "It was so hard that I felt my lip and side face swell up immediately. I was trying to talk to these guys, but they weren't letting me talk."

He went on to note, "I was just beaten in my face. Nothing was taken. No words were exchanged before the incident. So to me, I think it was a hate crime."

Shaw told WBAL's Barry Simms that the only words he heard during the attack were, "If you would have had money, we would have robbed you."

After the Dec. 25 attack, Shaw was taken to an area hospital. Though his face and head were bloodied and swollen, he didn't sustain any fractures. An Instagram photo Shaw posted of himself after the attack has received more than 200 comments, according to South Florida Gay News.

Lunch time?
Leviticus 11:7-8 reads:
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.